How to store cheese and make it last longer!
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Cheese is a fickle thing. It can be okay for days, then all the sudden there’s mold on it! And it seems to go bad so quickly. Learning the proper techniques to store your cheese can extend its shelf life by a three fold, so check out these great tips on keeping your cheese fresh.
Refrigerating Cheese
Rewrap it: Make sure to rewrap your cheese in fresh parchment paper and every time you use it and then loosely wrap it in plastic wrap or seal it in a plastic bag. It will help to fight molds and also keep your cheese from picking up any flavors from other foods.
Cool and humid: Cheese survives the longest in cool, humid places, so store it in the veggie bin,. It will keep your cheese humified and happy, and will prevent it from drying out.
Cut the mold: If your cheese has developed a little mold, remove it from the wrapping and cut off ½ of an inch down from the mold. Throw out the moldy section, and the other part, with a clean wrapping, will still be safe to eat for the next week.
Freezing Cheese
Your best bet to freeze most hard cheeses is to shred it and place it in a freezer zipper bag in a thin layer. When needed in a recipe, use the cheese directly from the freezer (no need to defrost first!). This works especially well with parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella.
Fine cheeses generally should not be frozen. Hard cheese blocks are okay to freeze, so long as the cheese is wrapped in parchment paper and allowed to thaw slowly in the refrigerator. Note that once defrosted, hard cheese can often become crumbly in texture (and therefore difficult to cut!). Since freezing changes the texture, only use frozen cheese for sauces and other cooking.
Sources:
http://www.cheesesociety.org/i-heart-cheese/tips-for-cheese-lovers/ http://www.eatwisconsincheese.com/cheese/cheese_101.aspx http://stilltasty.com/questions/index/135/page:1
I like to snack on block cheese when I get home from work and learned long time ago that another way to keep cheese longer after it is opened is to take the store wrapper off and then wrap it in aluminum foil. I have been doing this for a long time. It works great!
Thank you for the great tip!!
2 foods never go bad. honey and cheese.